Gabreski T-Bolt Questions

[fsbofk]

Intriguing question. The distinctive swirls of the camo gray on the fuselage immediately behind the cowling matches that visible on Gabreski's P-47 - I've never seen photos of other 56 FG T-bolts with this same scheme, though other planes (Schilling's for one) had camo with broad areas of gray and od. One thing I noticed is that in close-up color and b/w photos of Gabreski sitting in the cockpit (the scoreboard is visible), the canopy framing is noticeably natural metal, whereas it appears to be painted in the photo you posted - if Gabreski was shot down in another P-47, mayabe the frame was painted when the scoreboard was painted over ??

[JACK COOK]

Clearly the same a/c with the upper invasion stripes painted over, painted canopy frame and painted over kills. More questions.....................

[lampie]

Originally Posted by JACK COOK

Clearly the same a/c with the upper invasion stripes painted over, painted canopy frame and painted over kills. More questions.....................

Jack.
Interesting that you post this second reply which includes a photo of Gabreski with the invasion stripes of his aircraft already painted out, and indeed partly answers your own question.

There are plenty of photos showing Gabbys T'bolt with the upper invasion stripes removed.

As regards the staged "evening photo". Theres nothing "covered over" in the scoreboard area.
Look closely and its possible to see the straight top edge of the scoreboard area, and the area where the ground crews names are recorded also stands out clearly in this light.


To sum up.
Upper surface invasion stripes were removed from Gabreskis final T'bolt.(documented in photos)
The canopy framing was not painted over in a darker colour.(In the evening photo its a silhouette)
Gabby was flying HV-A when he belly landed and was taken POW.(documented in photos)
The scoreboard has not been covered over for the staged PR photo.( its visible albeit very faintly)

Clearly the same a/c with the upper invasion stripes painted over, painted canopy frame and painted over kills. More questions.....................
It is the same aircraft yes,and the invasion stripes have been painted over, but thats as far as it goes.

Just my 2 cents worth

[FalkeEins]

Hi Nige,

....glad you found us & welcome to TOCH. Thanks for the comprehensive analysis !

cheers

Neil